Ramos To Be "Friend of Pokerstars"

Earlier this week, Pokerstars revealed that they had signed Felipe Ramos to a sponsorship deal. Ramos, who plays as "Mojave" online, will officially serve as a "Friend of Pokerstars".

Ramos, who is currently #7 on Brazil's all-time tournament money list, has over $932k in lifetime "live" tournament cashes. Ramos' largest cash came in a 2013 "Super High Roller" event in Brazil, which he ended up taking down for $100,000. Ramos also made a deep run in this year's World Series of Poker main event, eventually finishing in 136th place for $46,890.

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Ramos is a personal friend of Neymar, Jr., the Barcelona striker who is also a sponsored player on Pokerstars. Neymar, Jr. reportedly flew out to the World Series of Poker to watch his friend in action and credits Ramos for teaching him how to play poker. It stands to reason that Neymar, Jr. may have used some of his influence to help Ramos land a deal with Pokerstars.

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South America has been targeted as a key area of growth for online gaming firms such as Pokerstars. The Brazilian market, with its growing wealth and population of over 200 million, is seen as being a particularly important country for companies to make inroads into.

Pokerstars has aggressively targeted the Brazilian market over the past couple of years, signing Neymar, Jr. (born in Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Ronaldo (born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to sponsorship deals. Both men are extremely popular in Brazil, and both men should help bring poker to the mainstream in the country.

Felipe Ramos is another signing that should help Pokerstars penetrate further into the Brazilian online poker market.